TrainFan73
Frothy
Is Morrissey sick in those first two songs? Someone should get him a throat lozenge.
The guy from Future Islands makes a whole career out of sounding like that.Is Morrissey sick in those first two songs? Someone should get him a throat lozenge.
Can understand this take. I always felt they tried to un-Morrissey his vocals on this album, only making them more annoying to some people. I always thought that he sounded like his sinuses were congested on this album.This is the first Smiths/Morrissey experience that I don’t like. I have Meat is Murder on vinyl and some deluxe The Queen is Dead thing in my mp3 collection. The two Morrissey albums were quite enjoyable despite the twat singing.
This one starts off circusy. Like the first four songs were legitimately not good to me - campy and weird. Stop Me… was like the Smiths turned up to 12. Currently on Last Night and it is a slog. I’m gonna finish up later.
4/16/24
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Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha
Foxbase Alpha - Saint Etienne | Album | AllMusic
Foxbase Alpha by Saint Etienne released in 1992. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.www.allmusic.com
Nothing Can Stop Us was the other big "hit" off Foxbase Alpha. I also really like Kiss and Make Up, People Get Real, and She's the OneThe only track I am really familiar with is the Neil Young cover.
I cannot figure out why this band name and half these songs sound so familiar to me. I don't remember ever listening to Saint Etienne before. I'm really digging what I hear so far though.
100% this. For the me big differences between bands like St Etienne and other big dance acts was that SE tended to be very open about their influences.I love Saint Etienne. They were on the soundtrack to every road trip I had in the early/mid-90s, and everytime I hear the intro to "Nothing Can Stop Us" I'm there again: In the car on the road to Roskilde festival in 1994 with whole life in front of me, hair in the wind and gazing at the sun...I know, nostalgia is a dangerous drug and my memories are just a mere illusion of what I was and what actually happened back then.
Anyway, listening to Foxbase Alpha today is a whole other experience. Saint Etienne were eletronic dance pop with an indie edge, at least in theory. The difference in sound between Sound Etienne and chart topping dance-pop in the early 90s actually ain't that big though. They're slightly more detached and cool but still very much pop. Culturally however, there was a huge rift between the kids who picked up "The Sign" by Ace of Base and those who dug Saint Etienne. (A friend of mine once got a bit mean and took this image a step too far, when he called Saint Etienne "standard eurotechno for the cool kids". I prefer the moniker "dance-pop for thinking people". I digress.)
It wasn't really until 1995 and "He's on the Phone" that Saint Etienne got a crossover mainstream hit, which they then kinda blew by not making any kind of follow up for many years. But when I listen to their first three albums (all brilliant) today, I can't help thinking that the world is and always have been pretty unfair and fucked up, when this didn't take over the world while the likes of Ace of Base, Whigfield and Haddaway dominated the charts.
I think Tiger Bay is my favourite Saint Etienne album, but their story and sound started here, so Foxbase Alpha essential in understanding how the early 90s sounded, both on the charts and in the underground clubs. Such a wonderful album!